Personality Conflict
by Perhapsormaybe
Summary: It's been a week since everyone returned to San Lorenzo. Helga isn't sure how to handle her new relationship with Arnold and Gerald isn't so sure he wants to see his best friend with the girl who has tormented him for years. Can Gerald start to see the good in Helga G Pataki, or will he start trying to break the pair up?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I'm writing this for two reasons. 1. I don't see enough stories where Helga and Arnold are dating – mostly they're about them getting together or they're married (not that anything's wrong with that, but I wanted to see this). And 2. I don't really see Gerald liking the pairing, so I wanted to see how he'd come around to not just being okay with his best friend dating Helga G Pataki, but also maybe kind of approving of the situation.

* * *

"So?" Arnold cornered Helga at the lunch table and extended his hand to her.

"So what, Football head?" It was a half-hearted insult at best, but she _was _irritated with him. She had just sat down to eat and he was already after her. They'd only gotten back from San Lorenzo a week ago and hadn't really talked since then. She had waited for him to come to her, to explain what the heck that kiss had been about. Arnold, however, had been a little preoccupied with spending time with his parents.

"So?" Arnold repeated, looking at the other blonde quizzically, "why aren't you sitting with me?"

"Why would I want to?"

Arnold rolled his eyes. "Really, Helga? Are we going to keep doing this? I like you, and I know you like me. What are you gaining from pretending like you don't? C'mon. Come sit with me."

"All right, all right, if it'll make you happy," Helga pretended to grumble, but she admittedly felt elation that Arnold was admitting his feelings for her, even if she did feel most of the blood rush to her cheeks the moment he had mentioned her feelings for him. "Criminy," Helga said after she sat down, "I feel like everyone's staring at us."

"No they're not, Helga," Arnold reassured her.

"Um, normally I hate to agree with her, but ...she's sort of right, Arnold," Gerald gesticulated with his spoon, directing Arnold's attention to the rest of the cafeteria where yes, almost everyone was staring. "I think a few of them even had bets on when you guys were going to get together."

"Now that's just ridiculous, Gerald," Arnold scoffed. Gerald merely shook his head and pointed over Arnold's shoulder. Sure enough, Principal Wartz was handing a five dollar bill over to Mr. Simmons. Gerald then jerked a finger in the opposite direction where Rhonda was begrudgingly handing over money to Sheena. Helga growled and attempted to sink into her seat. "That could be about anything," Arnold tried to reassure her.

As though today was just out to prove him wrong, it was that moment that Rhonda decided to walk up to their table. "Congratulations, you two! We're all so very happy for you," she put a hand on Arnold's shoulder and the other on Helga's. Helga looked ready to bite her. "Even if we never for a million years thought Arnold would feel the same way..." Rhonda muttered.

"No, you thought that, which is why I'm ten bucks richer," Nadine chuckled. "Seriously, though, we're all happy for you."

"Um, thanks," Arnold awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. He really wasn't expecting this much attention, and he was certain Helga was even more uncomfortable with the situation. "But, we are trying to eat, so..."

Nadine and Rhonda nodded and walked off together, whispering conspiratorially. "Well, this was fun, but I think I'll go back to where no one was staring at me and mocking me," Helga went to push herself away from the table, but Arnold put his hand over hers.

"Please stay? What does it matter what the other kids think? I want to spend more time with you."

Helga felt herself practically melt. "...All right, but you owe me one, Shortman."

"Like a date?" Arnold leaned into her. Helga blushed and looked away, but she nodded. Arnold was trying not to laugh at this point. He really liked Helga a lot, he hadn't lied about that. But seeing her so embarrassed and off her game was kind of funny to him. "Great! We can go to the movies this weekend. Or you can come over and watch wrestling or..."

"Slow down," It was Gerald who interrupted. "Don't we have that big game against Wolfgang and his fifth graders this week?"

"Oh, right. I forgot about that," Arnold admitted. "But we can do something afterwards, right?"

Helga nodded again, but was otherwise silent. _All my dreams are coming true! My dearest love, wanting to spend time with me, wanting to date me! So why can't I think of anything to say?! Criminy, girl, get with it!_

"Yeah. We ...we can do something after."

"Helga, are you all right? You're being pretty quiet." Arnold pushed a pudding cup her way after noticing that her lunch box was bare of anything but a moist wipe. For once, Helga wasn't upset at her mother's incompetence, because she was so whoozy and breathless she wasn't sure she could eat anything. She pushed the pudding back towards Arnold.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "And my stomach can't handle this right now, but thanks."

Arnold shrugged. "Ok. If you're sure," he glanced around to make sure no hall monitors or teachers were looking in their direction, then gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "But I'm walking you home from school today. Would it be easier to talk if we're alone?" Helga nodded vigorously. "Good."

* * *

"Mmm, mmm,mmm," Gerald shook his head as he shouldered his backpack and held the door open for Phoebe. He watched a few feet ahead as Arnold insisted on taking Helga's backpack and they took off for her house. "I just don't get it, Phoebe. What does he see in her?"

"Well, Gerald, she is my best friend," Phoebe reminded him gently, "And she's much nicer than she seems. She helped the neighborhood, and she's cared about Arnold for a very long time."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what everyone keeps telling me," Gerald had been the only one aside from Arnold who hadn't realized Helga's secret. Or maybe he had known, on some level, but didn't want to realize it because he couldn't ever imagine Arnold reciprocating. "But I haven't seen much proof of it. She may not be being mean to him lately, but she also hasn't said much since we got back from San Lorenzo. Maybe this is all just a trap. Maybe when her ability to speak comes back, she's just gonna go right back to bullying him."

Phoebe considered it momentarily. "Well, suffice it to say that I believe Helga hasn't really changed, so it's certainly possible she'll insult Arnold again once she's back to her usual self. But I don't think it will be the way it used to be. I mean, she finally has what she's wanted for six yea-" Phoebe faked a coughing fit. Helga may eventually come around to people realizing she loved Arnold when she'd been trying to hide it, but Phoebe was certain the girl would be mortified if anyone knew how long it had gone on for. "For a long time," she corrected herself lamely, "I don't think she'd throw it all away just to call him Football Head or put paste on his seat."

"Maybe you're right, but I worry about her hurting him."

"An understandable concern, but there's nothing to worry about there, Gerald."

Gerald sighed and put an arm around the girl. "I hope you're right, Phoebe."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I think I must redact or at least expand on the intentions of this story: mostly it will be about Gerald coming to terms with Helga and Arnold dating, yes, but I want to spend an equal amount of time on Helga and Arnold actually dating. Here we go:

Helga finally noticed that she and Arnold were walking in the direction of Arnold's boarding home, not her own house. She had been in too much of a fog to think clearly previously, but now that she had noticed she figured Arnold was up to something. "Thought you were walking me home?" She crossed her arms but continued to walk in the same direction.

"You didn't eat lunch."

"That has nothing to do with directions. I can eat at my own house, Arnold."

"True, but didn't you say Olga gets home soon and she has a habit of showing up early?" Helga was torn between kissing Arnold and slapping him. On the one hand, it was obvious he paid attention to her. On the other, he was being sneaky. Worse, he was being sweet and sneaky at the same time. Sweaky? Sneat? Helga pondered different combinations of the two words to describe him. But he _was_ right. Olga was planning on coming home soon, and lately she had taken to showing up anywhere from hours to days before she was expected. Miriam and Bob were always thrilled. Helga...wasn't.

"Still does not explain why we're heading to your place."

"Because there's food there," Arnold ticked off the reasons on his fingers, "you won't have to put up with Olga and..."

"And?"

"And we can spend some time together without people watching us. I'm sure my parents and grandma and grandpa and all the boarders will give us some space if we ask."

"That's an awful lot of company that will supposedly leave us alone," Helga pointed out. Suddenly she took great interest in the sidewalk underneath her feet. She continued to walk, but refused to make eye contact. _Arnold wants to spend time with me! Alone time! _She had to stop herself from skipping the rest of the way. "But I guess you're right, better all of the boarders than Oooolgggaaa," she drawled out her sister's name with slightly less venom than usual. Sure, Olga would have her parents' undivided attention during her stay, but Helga would have Arnold's. As far as Helga was concerned, she got the bargain in the deal.

"Grandma, grandpa, I'm home! And I have company!" Arnold called as he opened the door.

"They're actually out right now, kiddo. Mom decided to go shopping for...what was it again?" Miles and Stella were nearest the entry way to greet Arnold when he'd come back.

"If I heard her correctly, she wants to get a rabbit. Your dad said no pets," Stella suddenly frowned, "but I'm more concerned that she said she had no intentions of it being a pet. Oh! Helga! It's very nice to see you again. Can I get you two something to snack on?"

Miles and Stella had only been back in the states a little over a week, and they were having a hard time readjusting. They had promised Arnold a normal life from this point on, even though he had assured them he'd be more than happy to have a more adventurous one. But Miles and Stella couldn't put the image of La Sombra's machete at Arnold's throat out of their minds. So, for now, they clung to normalcy tightly.

Arnold suspected these things, but did not tell his parents he knew what was going on in their heads. He saw no reason to remind Helga of the La Sombra incident, either. She had cried even harder than Stella when things had gotten so bleak.

And so that was why Stella and Miles acted like they were the Cleavers, though with the care giving reversed. Miles stayed at home to clean up the boarding house while Stella worked. Today was an off day for her, which meant she had been cooking. Probably all day. Somehow she had gotten it into her head that normal mothers in the United States were supposed to cook. Regardless of how much interest anyone had in actually eating said food.

"I'm not hungry," Helga lied. Her stomach growled, and she frowned down at it for betraying her. Truth was, she wanted as little interaction with Arnold's parents as possible. She had no idea how they felt about her, and she didn't think she was good enough for their son.

"I have cake, cookies, casserole, lasagna and right now I'm sauteing mushrooms. Take your pick!" Stella said cheerfully.

"Go for the cookies," Miles whispered to her, "My wife is one of the most brilliant doctors in the world, but most of her baking and cooking..." he made sure his wife wasn't looking, and then drew a finger across his throat. Helga smiled.

"I guess cookies, then?" she replied to Stella. Stella nodded. "You and Arnold go upstairs. I'll bring it up to you."

"That's really not necessary, mom," Arnold said, going to the fridge to retrieve the milk. Stella snapped it out of his hands.

"Nonsense. You are my son, and I love you and I have years of bringing you cookies and milk to catch up on. Scoot!" Arnold rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. "All right."

Helga followed Arnold up the stairs and ducked just in time not to be hit by something flying out of the Kakoshka's room. "Oskar, you need to do something with your -" Arnold slammed the Kakoshka's door shut. Helga could still hear Mr. Kakoshka being ranted at, but at least the sound was muffled.

"Did she throw a toaster at him?" Helga noticed the now broken appliance that had so nearly hit her head. Arnold nodded. Neither one of them attempted to pick up the toaster. When they got to the room, Arnold propped his door open.

"Sorry," He rubbed the back of his neck, "But I don't think my parents will be okay with me closing the door with a girl in my room." Both of them blushed and immediately looked away from each other. They stood there like that, barely blinking, for what felt like an hour. It was actually two minutes. Finally, they looked at each other again. "Movie?"

"Movie. Yes. Movie good," Helga could barely think straight, but was glad for something to distract her. Arnold flipped through his DVD collection, frowning as he tried to figure out which ones Helga would actually want to watch.

"Superhero movie ok?"

"So long as it's not that stupid Monkey Man movie. Still can't believe they made a movie about that doofus."

Arnold selected a disk and popped it in the player, then pressed another button on the remote to get the couch to fold out from the wall. "Go ahead and sit down. I'm going to go see if my mom needs help." Helga nodded and sat, then watched Arnold head out of the room. She sighed and sunk down into the couch.

"What am I doing?! I'm being a total spaz. That's what I'm doing. I shouldn't have even come over here, he's going to realize I'm a freak when there's no jungle or anyone else to distract him," she looked around, certain for a moment that Brainy was going to materialize out of nowhere. She shook the thought off. "I love him so much and he's finally interested in me and I am. Completely. Blowing. it."

"No you're not."

Helga jumped when she heard the voice. She was momentarily thankful that it wasn't Arnold, but then mortified to realize it was actually Stella Shortman.

"Oh. Umm...hi, Mrs. Shortman. How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," Stella entered the room and set her tray – filled with two empty glasses, a pitcher of milk and a plate that was overflowing with chocolate chip cookies – on the table. "Don't worry, Arnold is helping his dad put out a fire."

"Fire?" Stella had been way too nonchalant about it, in Helga's opinion.

"Oh, no big deal, I just overcooked the mushrooms a bit. They've got it under control. ...and if not, the fire alarms will let us know." Stella poured a glass of milk and handed it to Helga. "Look, Helga, I know I didn't talk to you much in San Lorenzo, but I was watching you. Don't think for a second that I didn't realize it was you that saved Arnold's life when you got separated from everyone else in the jungle. He fell in the water first. You could have left him, but you jumped in. I know Arnold's made a good choice with you."

"I ..uh..." Helga coughed awkwardly. "Thanks, I guess."

"No, Helga, thank you." Stella smiled warmly. "You helped reunite my family. I could never thank you enough." She pushed herself up from the couch and headed for the door. "I'll leave you two to some alone time, but please don't ever question that you're good enough." She seemed to consider something. "Oh, but Helga?"

"Yes?"

"Keep in mind that I _am _a doctor, and if you ever hurt him I can do unspeakable things to you and make it look like an accident. Have fun!"

Helga stared after Mrs. Shortman for a moment, feeling a little shocked. But then she laughed. "Don't worry," she said even though there was no way Stella could hear her, "If I were to hurt your son I'd let you do those things to me."

"Hey, Helga, sorry that took so long. Mom..."

"Set a fire. I heard. Are you ok?"

Arnold nodded. "Guess we just have a lot of distractions going on right now. It'd be nice to just sit down and watch the movie, you know?"

Helga nodded and sat up a little straighter. Arnold sat down on the other side of the couch. He hit the play button, and Helga scooted just a tiny bit closer to him. He noticed and inched closer to her until their hands were touching. Helga wanted to grab his hand badly, but couldn't bring herself to do it. But Arnold was willing to make the first move and grabbed her hand instead. They watched the movie in silence. Finally, she was starting to feel comfortable around him.

**Author's note: **I got the feeling from The Journal special that Stella was slightly more willing to be violent and threatening than Miles. I don't think she's a mean person, and I don't think she'd follow up on the threat, but I could see her making it. Having to base characteristics off of just one episode with a character is kind of difficult.


End file.
